Pc Users Can Download Free Telemarketing-call Zapper

November 14, 2002|By MICHAEL J. HIMOWITZ Columnist

Next to oafs who use cellular telephones in movie theaters, telemarketers are the most annoying people in the world. But there are ways to minimize their intrusion into your life. One of them is to use the same technology that they use to annoy you.

For a year now, a $40 gadget called the TeleZapper has been a hot seller (www.telezapper. com) among the telemarketer-weary. It works by fooling the predictive-dialing software that telemarketers use into thinking that your phone number has been disconnected.

When it senses a disconnected number, the software ends the call and removes your number from its database. That means that the telemarketer's system won't call you again. Because big telemarketing companies typically work for many clients, getting your number out of one database can eliminate repeat calls.

By most accounts, the gadget works well, though it's not perfect. It can't fool telemarketers who don't use sophisticated software, so small-time operators and local charity solicitors who dial by hand won't be affected by it. Still, it's better than nothing.

After we ran a story about this subject last week, several readers sent e-mail informing me that you don't need a TeleZapper to foil the storm-door salesmen. All you need is a PC, a regular answering machine and a few minutes of your time.

It turns out that the TeleZapper works by emitting the first of the three Special Information Tones (SITs) that the phone company plays before it announces a disconnected number. You've undoubtedly heard them: "Dah, dah, dee; The number you have called is not in service."

When predictive-dialing software detects the SIT, it assumes that your number isn't valid and chucks it out of the database. You can find recordings of these tones on the Web in an audio file called "sit.wav." It can be downloaded and played by Windows Media Player or virtually any other audio software.

To find the file, go to Google^].com and search for "sit.wav." I found the file and a good explanation of the technology at the Sweetwater Computer Center's Web site (www.compulore^].com/^]zapper.htm).

To put it to work for you, download the file and save it on your hard drive. Hold the answering machine so its microphone is near your computer speakers. Start recording a new greeting, then immediately play the tone file and recite your normal message.

That's all there is to it. When I tried it and monitored several calls that appeared to be from telemarketers, they disconnected immediately after the SIT played, while a couple of others got through to our voice mail.

If you want to get fancy, you can call up the sit.wav file in any audio-editing program (including Windows Sound Recorder) and delete the last two tones. This will make the finished sound file less intrusive to legitimate callers. But some anti-telemarketing crusaders think that the villains will eventually try to get around TeleZapper by listening for all three tones, instead of just one. So leaving them in might be a good idea.

One caveat: Unlike TeleZapper, which emits the tone when you answer any call, this system works only if you let your answering machine or voice mail pick up the line.

TECH SUPPORT WINNER. If hardware and software companies want to learn how to do technical support right, they can look to Sears for an example. That's Sears, as in the department store.

I learned this last week, when the remote touchpad on our garage-door opener stopped working. Normally, this means that it needs a new battery. But when I replaced it, the touchpad still didn't work. My wife (she-who- forgets-nothing) dredged up the manual that she put away when we bought the garage-door opener 10 years ago. After reading it, we followed the directions for reprogramming but still had no luck.

So I turned to the Web, which turned up the Sears Garage Door Opener Help Line (no kidding, they have one). When I dialed the toll-free number, I got a real human being who actually knew something about garage-door openers. On the first try.

On a Saturday afternoon.

I took a cordless telephone into the garage, and he talked me through a couple of tests. When we still couldn't get it working, he gave me the bad news: The touchpad was broken and would have to be replaced.

So I ran over to Sears, bought a new one and had it working in 10 minutes. In an ideal world, the technician would have been able to solve the problem, but at least, I didn't have to spend hours trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. That's good enough.